Electronic filing of incorporation application at Companies House - electronic incorporation - electronic lodgment of incorporation documents - electronic incorporation software - electronic filing interface - electronically filed company formation Frequently Asked Questions Regarding UKcorporator's New Electronic Lodgment Option What is the new Electronic Lodgment Option? UKcorporator's new Electronic Lodgment Option allows your incorporation documents to be lodged electronically at Companies House*, rather than your having to lodge them manually (i.e. in paper form - over the counter or via the post). * Companies House is the government agency which, among other things, administers the incorporation of companies in England, Wales and Scotland. Does the launch of UKcorporator's new Electronic Lodgment Option mean that manual lodgment (i.e. in paper format) is no longer offered? No. The initial part of the UKcorporator system continues to operate as always - i.e. upon stepping through the Question and Answer session commencing at the UKcorporator homepage, documents are (immediately, electronically and automatically) delivered to you (in Adobe PDF format) via a download and/or an email attachment. These documents are suitable for manual (i.e. paper) lodgment. If, however, you choose to take advantage of the Electronic Lodgment Option, you may then provide some additional information, via a UKcorporator webpage, and pay a further sum of money (£45.00) via a secure WorldPay payment page, in order to have UKcorporator lodge your incorporation application electronically on your behalf. You may see text in some places in this website which refers only to the manual lodgment option. This is because we are reviewing all of the website text (many thousands of words) and such references will be amended over time, but have not all been attended to as yet. You should therefore read any such text as being subject to what is said on this page regarding our new Electronic Lodgment Option. Are the Adobe PDF documents delivered to me by UKcorporator unnecessary if I decide to use the Electronic Lodgment Option? No - you will still need most of them, even if you decide to use the Electronic Lodgment Option. Many of the documents you will receive from UKcorporator (even if you don't use the Electronic Lodgment Option) are required by law to be held by the company during its lifetime. These include documents such as: Register of Members, Register of Directors and Secretaries, Register of Director's Interests, and Register of Charges. Also, you will receive an Adobe PDF version of the Memorandum of Association and the Articles of Association lodged electronically at Companies House. This is an important record to be retained by the company. What are the advantages of Electronic Lodgment? The advantages of Electronic Lodgment (as against manual / paper lodgment) include: No need to attend before a Solicitor, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public or Commissioner for Oaths to sign a declaration in Form 12 and have it witnessed. No need to lodge any documents manually (i.e. in paper form - over the counter or via the post) at Companies House to achieve incorporation. Incorporation is usually achieved a good deal more quickly. (Likewise, the Certificate of Incorporation for the company is usually received a good deal more quickly.) No need to arrange a cheque or money order etc. for Companies House. (UKcorporator absorbs the Companies House fees and receives payment from the customer by credit card - via a WorldPay secure payment facility). What do I need to do to use the Electronic Lodgment Option? It is very simple. When you receive your incorporation documents from UKcorporator via email (in Adobe PDF format - suitable for manual lodgment) you will also receive a link (i.e. a URL) to UKcorporator's new Electronic Lodgment webpage. (The page is unique for each customer, being pre-loaded with data from the individual customer's earlier Q&A session.) You go to the webpage and complete some elementary 'authentication details' concerning your proposed company officers and members etc. More particularly, you will be asked in relation to each officer etc., to provide three (3) of the following pieces of information: the first three letters of the name of the town in which the person was born, the last three digits of the person's telephone number, the last three characters of the person's National Insurance number, the last three digits of the person's Passport Number, the first three letters of the person's mother's maiden name (i.e. surname before marriage), the first three letters of the person's eye colour, the first three letters of the person's father's first forename. The above information is the prescribed information required by Companies House in order to process an electronic incorporation application. You will then be asked to pay a further sum (£45.00) to UKcorporator via a secure WorldPay credit card payment page. UKcorporator will then complete the Electronic Lodgment of your incorporation documents and will email your Certificate of Incorporation to you when the company is registered. You will retain most of the Adobe PDF documents as they are required in any event to be held by the company. UKcorporator will give you advice on which documents may be discarded. How do UKcorporator's three different lodgment options compare with one another? Lodgment Option Total cost Payable to Approx. time to achieve incorporation† Need to have Form 12 declaration witnessed by a Justice of the Peace etc. Manual lodgment by you (non-expedited) £89.95 £69.95 online to UKcorporator + £20.00 manually to Companies House 5 days plus any applicable postage time (both ways) Yes Manual lodgment by you (expedited) £119.95 £69.95 online to UKcorporator + £50.00 manually to Companies House 1 day plus any applicable postage time (both ways) Yes Electronic lodgment by UKcorporator £114.95 All online to UKcorporator (i.e. £69.95 for the initial PDF documents suitable for manual lodgment + £45.00 for UKcorporator's electronic lodgment service) 1 to 2 days (may be delayed if a weekend or public holiday intervenes) No †These times assume no unusual problems are encountered. For more information about articles of association or memorandum of association click here: memorandum of association or articles of association. Also, for information about whether your proposed company name is available, click here: Check Company Name Availability - Available Company Names. Also, for information about the various ways of setting up a limited company in the UK, click here: How to set up a limited company in the UK. This information has been brought to you by UKcorporator – an automated, triple award winning, online system for the creation of any type of English, Welsh or Scottish company. Click here, or on the 'Back' or 'Continue' buttons below, to go directly to the UKcorporator website home page.